Game Options

Game Options can be accessed from the Main menu or Pause menu. It can be used to adjust the Video, Sound, Controls, Gameplay and Social options. All the information is extracted from PC version, so there will be some discrepancy with console versions.

Video Options

A sample of Video options in PC version.

• The name of player's graphic card is displayed.
• Display Mode: There are 3 options: Windowed, Fullscreen, or Borderless Windowed.
• Target Display: Choose which display output for the game. If the player only have one output, it will show "Monitor 1".
• Resolution: Options with the asterisk symbol (*) is the recommended resolution.
• Field of View: The field of view for your first-person aspect, ranged from 80 to 103.
• Aspect Ratio: Choose the ratio for the display on-screen. There are 3 options: 16:9, 16:10, or 21:9.
• VSync: Enable/disable Vertical Synchronization.
• Triple Buffering: Enable/disable Triple Buffering.
• Display Performance Stats: Display performance statistic on the upper left of the screen.
  • Advance Performance Stats: There are 6 advanced options: Show Framerate (shown as FPS), Show GPU Temperature (shown as TMP), Show VRAM Usage (shown as VRM), Show Network Ping (shown as PNG), Show Network Round Trip Time (shown as RTT), and Show Network Interpolation Delay (shown as IND). In default setting, only Show Framerate and Show Network Ping are enabled.
• Limit FPS: Limiting the frame rate drawn from your graphic card. There are 3 options: Custom, Display-based, or 30FPS
  • If player chooses Custom, there will be a slider for adjusting Frame Rate Cap, ranged from 30 to 300.
• Graphic Quality: There are 5 options: Low, Medium, High, Ultra, or Epic. There are also Advance Options:
  • Render Scale: There are 6 options: Automatic, 50%, 75%, 100%, 150%, or 200%.
  • Texture Quality: There are 3 options: Low, Medium, or High.
  • Texture Filtering Quality: There are 5 options: Low - 1X, Medium - 2X, High - 4X, Ultra - 8X, or Epic - 16X.
  • Local Fox Detail: There are 4 options: Low, Medium, High, or Ultra.
  • Dynamic Reflections: There are 4 options: Off, Low, Medium, or High.
  • Shadow Detail: There are 5 options: Off, Low, Medium, High, or Ultra.
  • Model Detail: There are 4 options: Low, Medium, High, or Ultra.
  • Effect Detail: There are 4 options: Low, Medium, High, or Ultra.
  • Lighting Quality: There are 4 options: Low, Medium, High, or Ultra.
  • Antialias Quality: There are 5 options: Off, Low - FXAA, Medium - SMAA Low, High - SMAA Medium, or Ultra - SMAA High.
  • Refraction Quality: There are 3 options: Low, Medium, High.
  • Screenshot Quality: There are 5 options: 1X Resolution, 3X Resolution, 5X Resolution, 7X Resolution, 9X Resolution. You can take screenshot by using PrintScreen button.
  • Local Reflection: Enable/disable.
  • Ambient Occlusion: Enable/disable.
• Gamma Correction: A slider to control gamma value.
• Contrast: A slider to control contrast value.
• Brightness: A slider to control brightness value.

• Color Blind Options:
  • A sample display of Friendly, Enemy, Group and Alert color will be shown, and these color display will changed depending on Color Blind Mode and Color Blind Strength.
  • There are 4 Color Blind Mode: Off, Deuteranopia, Protanopia, Tritanopia.
  • There is also a slider to adjust Color Blind Strength.

Sound Options

• Master Volume: A slider to control volume, affects sound effects, music, and in-game voice volume.
  • Sound Effects Volume: A slider to control sound effects volume. It includes but not limit to ability sounds, footstep sounds, and environment interaction sound.
  • Music Volume: A slider to control music volume. It includes background music in the game and in the menu.
  • In-game Voice Volume: A slider to control in-game voice volume. It includes but not limit to all heroes and NPCs' voices.
• Voice Chat Volume: A slider to control voice chat from others volume.
• Voice Chat Mic Volume: A slider to control player's mic volume.
• Sound Plays While in Background: To enable/disable sound while Overwatch is in the background (or not in active window).
• Group Voice Chat: If enabled, when joining group, player will join group voice chat channel automatically.
• Team Voice Chat: If enabled, when starting a game, player will join team voice chat channel automatically.
• Voice Chat Mode: There are 2 options: Push to Talk, and Open Mic. Push to Talk will required the player hold the grave accent (`) button to use voice chat; Open Mic will let the player automatically activate voice chat when they talk.
• Voice Chat Devices: To change between Default Devices or Comms Devices. Hover over the option, player will see the output for the speaker and input for the microphone.
• Dolby Atmos for Headphones: To enable Dolby Atmos for compatible headphones. If the player turn this on there will be a notice for them to turn off their 7.1 or 5.1 function in their headphone's driver.

Controls Options

This section is about a specific type of maps. For other meaning of "control" see Control (disambiguation).

Players can switch between heroes, or choose "All Heroes" to apply the adjustment to all of them. When the player changes any option in "All Heroes", the change will affect all corresponding options in each individual hero.

• Mouse
  • Sensitivity: A slider (from 0 to 100) to control the sensitivity of the mouse. The default value is 15.00.
  • Invert Look: Enable to invert the vertical and horizontal orientation of the mouse.

• Controller
  • Horizontal Sensitivity: Change the horizontal sensitivity of the controller.
  • Vertical Sensitivity: Change the vertical sensitivity of the controller. There are advanced options:
    • Invert Vertical Look: Enable to invert the vertical orientation of the controller.
    • Invert Horizontal Look: Enable to invert the horizontal orientation of the controller.
  • Vibration: Enable to activate the vibration effect of the controller.
  • Switch Movement/Look Sticks: Enable to switch the function of movement and look joystick.
  • Legacy Sticks: Enable to activate the function of legacy stick.
  • Aim Technique: Switch between Dual-Zone option and Exponential Ramp.

• Reticle
  • Bloom: Enable to turn on the bloom/spreading effect on the reticle.
  • Type: There are 5 options: Default, Circle, Crosshairs, Short Crosshairs, and Dot.
  • Color: There are 7 options: White, Green, Cyan, Red, Magenta, Yellow, Black.

• Hero
  • Allied Health Bars: Enable to turn on the visibility of allied health bars.

These options below are available for specific heroes. Heroes who don't have specific control options are Bastion, McCree, Mei, Pharah, Reaper, Roadhog, Symmetra, Torbjörn, Tracer, and Winston.

• Ana
  • Toggle Zoom: When enabled, pressing the appropriate button will toggle the scope on and off. Otherwise, the button must be held.
  • Relative Aim Sensitivity While Zoomed: Adjust the sensitivity of the mouse only when using scope. The default value is 30.
  • Nano Boost Sensitivity: Adjust the sensitivity of Nano Boost's targeting. The default value is 100.

• D.Va
  • Toggle Defense Matrix: When enabled, pressing the appropriate button will toggle the Defense Matrix on and off. Otherwise, the button must be held.

• Genji
  • Automatically Climb Walls: When enabled, Genji will automatically scale up to any wall after pressing the appropriate button once. Otherwise, the button must be held.

• Hanzo
  • Automatically Climb Walls: When enabled, Hanzo will automatically scale up to any wall after pressing the appropriate button once. Otherwise, the button must be held.

• Junkrat
  • RIP-Tire Automatically Climb Walls: When enabled, Junkrat's RIP-Tire will automatically scale up to any wall after pressing the appropriate button once. Otherwise, the button must be held.

• Lúcio
  • Hold To Crossfade: When enabled, the player will have to hold the appropriate button to keep the Crossfade: Speed in active; if the button is not held, Crossfade: Heal will be in active. Otherwise, player can switch between 2 modes by pressing the button once.
  • Allow Backward Wall Ride: When enabled, the player will be able to wall ride backward by holding the back and jump button.

• Mercy
  • Toggle Beam Connection: When enabled, pressing the appropriate button will toggle the staff between 2 beams. Otherwise, the button must be held.
  • Guardian Angel Prefers Beam Target: When enabled, any hero that Mercy is facing will be the default target for Guardian Angel. If disabled, when Mercy has a beam connected to a hero not in front of her, she will fly to the connected hero instead; Mercy only flies to the hero in front of her when the beam is not connected to a hero.
  • Toggle Guardian Angel: When enabled, pressing the appropriate button will toggle Guardian Angel; another press will cancel it. Otherwise, the button must be held for the whole flight duration; if the button is let go, the ability will be canceled.
  • Guardian Angel Sensitivity: Adjust the sensitivity of Guardian Angel's targeting. The default value is 100.
  • Beam Sensitivity: Adjust the sensitivity of Caduceus Staff's targeting. The default value is 100.

• Reinhardt
  • Toggle Barrier: When enabled, pressing the appropriate button will toggle the Barrier Field on and off. Otherwise, the button must be held.

• Soldier: 76
  • Hold to Sprint: When enabled, the player will have to hold the appropriate button (along with the forward button) to keep Soldier: 76 sprinting; let go of the button will make him return to normal speed. Otherwise, pressing the button once and holding the forward button will make Soldier: 76 sprinting until the forward button is let go.

• Sombra
  • Hack Sensitivity: Adjust the sensitivity of Hack's targeting. The default value is 100.

• Widowmaker
  • Toggle Zoom: When enabled, pressing the appropriate button will toggle the scope on and off. Otherwise, the button must be held.
  • Relative Aim Sensitivity While Zoomed: Adjust the sensitivity of the mouse only when using scope. The default value is 30.
  • Grappling Hook Sensitivity: Adjust the sensitivity of Grappling Hook's targeting. The default value is 100.

• Zarya
  • Projected Barrier Sensitivity: Adjust the sensitivity of Projected Barrier's targeting. The default value is 100.

• Zenyatta
  • Harmony Orb Sensitivity: Adjust the sensitivity of Orb of Harmony's targeting. The default value is 100.
  • Discord Orb Sensitivity: Adjust the sensitivity of Orb of Discord's targeting. The default value is 100.

Movement

Actions	Primary Button	Alternate Button	Controller Button
Forward	W	empty	empty
Back	S	empty	empty
Left	A	empty	empty
Right	D	empty	empty
Crouch	Left Control	empty	empty
Toggle Crouch	empty	empty	B
Jump	Space	empty	A

Weapon and Abilities

Actions	Primary Button	Alternate Button	Controller Button
Ability 1	Left Shift	empty	Left Bumper
Ability 2	E	empty	Right Bumper
Ability 3	Q	empty	Y
Primary Fire	Left Mouse	empty	Right Trigger
Secondary Fire	Right Mouse	empty	Left Trigger
Equip Weapon 1	1	empty	empty
Equip Weapon 2	2	empty	empty
Quick Melee	V	Mouse 4	Right Stick Click
Reload	R	empty	X
Next Weapon	Scroll Up	empty	Left D-Pad
Previous Weapon	Scroll Down	empty	empty

Communication

Actions	Primary Button	Alternate Button	Controller Button
Communication Menu	C	empty	Down D-Pad
Emote (default)	empty	empty	empty
Hello	empty	empty	empty
Need Healing/Buffs	X	empty	empty
Group Up	empty	empty	empty
Ultimate Status	Z	empty	empty
Voice Line (default)	empty	empty	empty
Acknowledge	F	empty	empty
Thanks	empty	empty	empty

Emotes

Actions	Primary Button	Alternate Button	Controller Button
Emote Menu	empty	empty	empty
Emote Right	empty	empty	empty
Emote Down	empty	empty	empty
Emote Left	empty	empty	empty

Voice Lines

Actions	Primary Button	Alternate Button	Controller Button
Voice Line Menu	empty	empty	empty
Voice Line Right	empty	empty	empty
Voice Line Down	empty	empty	empty
Voice Line Left	empty	empty	empty

Sprays

Actions	Primary Button	Alternate Button	Controller Button
Spray Menu	Y	empty	empty
Spray (default)	T	empty	Up D-Pad
Spray Right	empty	empty	empty
Spray Down	empty	empty	empty
Spray Left	empty	empty	empty

Chat and Voice

Actions	Primary Button	Alternate Button	Controller Button
All Chat	empty	empty	empty
Hide Chat	Shift + Control + C	empty	empty
Open Chat	Enter	Numpad Enter	empty
Reply to Whisper	Backspace	empty	empty
Team Chat	empty	empty	empty
Voice Chat: Push To Talk	`	empty	empty
Voice Chat: Toggle Mic Mute	M	empty	empty

Spectator Controls

These may overlap with other controls.

Actions	Primary Button	Alternate Button	Controller Button
Spectate Player 1	F1	empty	empty
Spectate Player 2	F2	empty	empty
Spectate Player 3	F3	empty	empty
Spectate Player 4	F4	empty	empty
Spectate Player 5	F5	empty	empty
Spectate Player 6	F6	empty	empty
Spectate Player 7	F7	empty	empty
Spectate Player 8	F8	empty	empty
Spectate Player 9	F9	empty	empty
Spectate Player 10	F10	empty	empty
Spectate Player 11	F11	empty	empty
Spectate Player 12	F12	empty	empty
Spectate Next	empty	empty	empty
Spectate Previous	empty	empty	empty
Spectate Self	Right Control	empty	empty
Spectate Toggle 3P	Space	empty	empty
Static Camera 1	1	empty	empty
Static Camera 2	2	empty	empty
Static Camera 3	3	empty	empty
Static Camera 4	4	empty	empty
Static Camera 5	5	empty	empty
Static Camera 6	6	empty	empty
Static Camera 7	7	empty	empty
Static Camera 8	8	empty	empty
Static Camera 9	9	empty	empty
Show Health Bar	empty	empty	empty
Spectate Lock On	Left Mouse	empty	empty
Spectate Target Under Recticle	Right Mouse	empty	empty
Disable Camera Blending	Z	empty	empty
Modify FOV	B	empty	empty
Move Fast	Left Shift	empty	empty
Move Slow	Left Control	empty	empty
Move Down	Q	empty	empty
Move Up	E	empty	empty
Zoom In	Scroll Up	empty	empty
Zoom Out	Scroll Down	empty	empty

Miscellaneous Controls

Actions	Primary Button	Alternate Button	Controller Button
Custom Game Lobby	L	empty	empty
Hero Information	F1	empty	Right D-Pad
Hero Select	H	empty	empty
Moderator - Pause Game	Shift + Control + =	empty	empty
Scoreboard	Tab	empty	View Button
Social Menu	O	empty	empty
Social Menu Channels	P	empty	empty
Take Screenshot	Print Screen	empty	empty
Toggle FPS display	Shift + Control + R	empty	empty
Toggle Netgraph	Shift + Control + N	empty	empty
Toggle UI	Alt + Z	empty	empty

Visual map

Visual map of Overwatch keyboard controls. Click on the image for a clearer view.

Gameplay Options

• Always Skip Kill Cam: Enable it to skip kill cam after being killed.
• Kill Feed Display: Enable it to hide kill feeds.
• Skirmish While Searching: Enable it to join a Skirmish when searching for match.
• Achievement Display: There are 4 options: UI, Chat, Both, and Neither. The player can choose where the achievement will be displayed when they receive it in game: On the screen, in the chat box, both of them or neither of them.
• Network Quality Notification: Enable it to receive notification regarding network quality.
• Limit Client Send Rate: Enable it to limit the send rate from the player's side.
• Limit Server Send Rate:Enable it to limit the send rate from the server's side.
• Tips: Enable it to display tips on the screen when the player dies and respawns in the middle of the game.

Social Options

• Profanity Filter: Filter all profanity in game chat.
• Group Member Can Invite: Enable it to let group member invite others, if the player is the group leader.
• Open Group To: There are 3 options: Invite Only, Friends or Anyone. If the player is the group leader, the group will be opened for invitation only, or for any friend, or for anyone.
• Custom Game Member Can Invite: Enable it to let people from Custom Game invite others, if the player is the Custom game creator.
• Open Custom Game To: There are 3 options: Invite Only, Friends or Anyone. If the player is the Custom game creator, the group will be opened for invitation only, or for any friend, or for anyone.
• Receive Group Invite From: There are 2 options: Friends or Anyone.
• Receive Group Invite Requests: Enable it to receive request to join group from others.
• Receive Whispers: Enable it to receive whispers in chat.
• Display Real IDs For Friends: Enable it to display real ID for friends.
• Display Offline Friends: Enable it to display all offline friends.
• Display Friend Request Toasts: Enable it to display friend request toasts when playing.
• Display Friend Request Notifications: Restrict friend request notification to be displayed. There are 3 options: On, Favorites Only, and Off.

Patch Changes

February 28, 2017 Patch: New Hero Options: Nano Boost Sensitivity, Guardian Angel Sensitivity, Beam Sensitivity, Hack Sensitivity, Grappling Hook Sensitivity, Projected Barrier Sensitivity, Harmony Orb Sensitivity, Discord Orb Sensitivity. Fixed an issue preventing key bindings on the communication wheel from displaying properly. Fixed a bug causing some key bindings to revert to default after the first round of a Control map.  January 24, 2017 Patch: Players can now bind individual sprays, emotes, and voice lines to mouse buttons, unique keys, or controller buttons. New Hero option for Lúcio: Allow Backwards Wall Ride.  December 20, 2016 Patch: Mouse 4 no longer controls backwards menu navigation, preventing conflicts with other functions that might be bound to that button.  November 16, 2016 Patch: Fixed an issue which prevented players from saving their Graphics Quality settings when attempting to use the “Epic” preference.  November 15, 2016 Patch: Fixed a navigation error that could occur when attempting to adjust video options using a controller. Fixed a bug that prevented Ana’s custom crosshairs from displaying while zoomed.  October 11, 2016 Patch: Several minor aesthetic changes have been made to the game’s Options menus. Controller users can now choose between two aiming modes. Fixed a bug that prevented custom key bindings from saving after relaunching the game. Fixed a bug that kept players from binding Take Screenshot to other keys.  September 1, 2016 Patch: A new "Allied Health Bars" option has been added. Ana’s scope now correctly displays all custom reticle options. Ana’s attacks and abilities now activate the controller’s rumble function. The alternate fire on McCree’s Peacekeeper ability now activates the controller’s rumble function for all six shots.  August 2, 2016 Patch: Players can now set an FPS cap by selecting "Custom" from the “Limit FPS” dropdown.  July 19, 2016 Patch: Added control options for D.Va and Ana. Players can now enter numerical values for any option that also has slider. Players can now hide in-game chat. Mouse sensitivity can now be adjusted out to two decimals. Mid-match tips can now be toggled on or off. Friend Request toasts, Friend notifications, and Whispers can now be toggled on or off. Added 21:9 aspect ratio support. Players can now enable a real-world clock by toggling the "Display System Clock" setting.  July 6, 2016 Patch: Fixed a bug where display settings weren't always saved after resetting the client.  June 28, 2016 Patch: Players can now swap the left and right sticks on a control pad; "Legacy" controls option has been added. Improved dead-zone controls, giving players increased accuracy during off-center and diagonal stick movement.  April 13, 2016 (beta) Patch: Fixed an issue where Custom Reticle could not be reset to default. Fixed an issue where Custom Reticle was not persisting. Fixed an issue where hero-specific bindings would reset after round transition on a Control map.  April 5, 2016 (beta) Patch: An option to select custom crosshairs has been added. Some hero-specific option is now available. Mouse sensitivity scale has been reset and re-calibrated.  March 29, 2016 (beta) Patch: Keybindings should now save and carry over between sessions correctly.  March 22, 2016 (beta) Patch: Players can now save/set hero-specific keybindings. Players can now choose to skip “Skirmish Mode” while in queue. Support for Dolby ATMOS Headphones has been added. Keybindings should now always save and carry over between sessions correctly.  February 9, 2016 (beta) Patch: The game's Main, Social, and Options menus have been redesigned. Gameplay: "Always Skip Kill Cam" option has been added and "Kill Feed Display" option has been added. Sound: Volume sliders have been added for Music, Sound Effects, and Voice Chat.